wayside_schoolfandomcom-20200214-history
Miss Mush
Miss Mush is a character in the Wayside School books and cartoon. She is the lunch teacher at Wayside School, and serves food at the cafeteria on the fifteenth story. Appearance Books In "Lunch," Miss Mush is described as being very tall, at six feet, two inches, which is the only reason she was hired as a chef at Wayside School. Her arms, to the end of her fingernails, are two feet, nine inches long, and her fingernails are each three inches long. She is also described to have long legs and long toenails, though how long they are isn't specified, though it is mentioned her toenails are so long, they poke out of her shoes. She supposedly has a big head, which is why she can't reach the top of the tetherball pole. In "Mush," she is described to wear an apron. Cartoon In the cartoon, Miss Mush is an older woman with an eliptical head with green hair tied back in a bun, a chef hat, and a large, round nose. She has two eyes with visible eyelashes, and a mouth, with visible wrinkles and a visible chin. She wears a large eggplant-colored coat with a white collar and white cuffs around her hands, alongside a white apron with a pouch on the front. She wears brown shoes with pointed toes. Her cartoon appearance largely matches her description in the books, though her fingernails and toenails are not seen, due to the show's art style. Personality Books In the books, Miss Mush is someone who cares very much for the students of Wayside School, noting in "Mush" that she knows the name of every student, and in "Nose" it may even extend to knowing their personalities, as she figures Mr. Gorf is taking everyone's voices when she hears Kathy's voice saying "Have a nice day." She usually holds an upbeat and friendly demeanor near the students, and near new people as well, as seen when she is first talking to Mr. Gorf in "Voices." Miss Mush is often willing to help out students when they need her assistance, as seen in "Lunch," when Rondi needs her help after her shoe gets stuck at the top of the tetherball pole. Miss Mush appears to be somewhat oblivious to the disgust others express towards her meals, as in "Mush" it is mentioned that she's "glad to see how much the children like her food." Miss Mush is known to be a terrible chef, as seen throughout the series. "Jason" remarks she has the remarkable ability to both overcook and undercook a meal at the same time, and that her specialty is a bowl of mud she calls "porridge." However, when Ron eats her Mushroom Surprise in "Mush," he remarks it doesn't taste too bad, despite its strange effects, and in "Another Story About Potatoes," Joe and John seem to enjoy the taste of her potato salad. Miss Mush, however, still does seem to have questionable culinary tastes, as she remarks Mr. Gorf's nose would taste good in spaghetti sauce in "Nose," and it's possible she may have some self-awareness of how bad her food tastes, as in "Lunch," she is glad to get out of the kitchen because it smells funny. In "Lunch," it is remarked that she is actually an excellent chef, but has difficulty cooking for lots of people, and that because she has to cook for everyone at Wayside School, her meals end up tasting terrible. Miss Mush apparently enjoys a good laugh sometimes, as occasionally she'll play jokes on her assistant Mr. Pepperadder, due to how much shorter he is. Cartoon In the cartoon, Miss Mush's character is for the most part very similar, though she does have a much more major role. In "Miss Fortune," she is shown to be excited by what the students have to say, listening to them when they note what they want their future careers to be, and preparing bowls of Mushroom Surprise that help predict their futures. While a little disappointed that people don't like her food, she doesn't mind too much, as shown in "French Fried," when she opens the www.missmush.mush mail order business, she notes that it doesn't matter that people aren't buying her food to eat, because she's making "millions of money" either way. While apprehensive to stay when Maurecia struggles to eat her food, she decides to stay to help the kids when Maurecia and Myron note that they'd rather have a terrible chef that is friendly than a great chef that is mean like Le Chef. In "Wayside Christmas," she is excited to prepare broccoli gingerbread men for the students in Mrs. Jewls's class. Miss Mush is from Mamaland, and often still partakes in the various traditions of her homeland. Even in competitions between Wayside School and Mamaland, in episodes like "Mascot Madness" and "Mad Hot," she typically roots for Mamaland, and in "Mamaland Blues," she expresses excitement when Dana wants to learn about her culture. It is implied that her cooking skills are simply part of Mamalandic culture, as she frequently is shown preparing near inedible meals, such as crayon casserole in "Mrs. Gorf," and pizza with cardboard in "Principles of Principals." Miss Mush seems to have little knowledge about cooking, though she's used to the way she does cook, as in "French Fried," she is surprised to see the kitchen cleaned up. Miss Mush is revealed not to be entirely brilliant in "Honors Class," where it is revealed she teaches an honors class on the twenty-ninth story. Whenever Maurecia tries to stupid her way out of smart class, Miss Mush mistakens it for untold brilliance, and by the end of the episode, is so satisfied with her spelling of the word "potato," that she sends her to double honors class, which is revealed to just be Mrs. Jewls's classroom. However, Miss Mush still often has a better grip of reality than Mr. Kidswatter, as shown in "Joe n' Fro," where she questions if he knows what a gazebo is when he gets overly excited about adding one to the schoolyard. Miss Mush's sole companion is Sammy, who rarely does anything because he's dead. Miss Mush is shown to care for Sammy a lot, going on a quest to find the Golden Bowl of Mamaland in "The Rat Truth" when he falls sick. Relationships Books Students In the books, Miss Mush seems to like the children at Wayside School, as first seen in "Lunch," where she tries to help Rondi get her shoe off the tetherball. In "Mush," she smiles thinking about how much the children like her food, though it seems she is unaware of the fact hardly anyone is even eating it. In "Nose," upon realizing Mr. Gorf's scheme, slams a pepper pie in his face to restore the voices to the children. It's unknown if this feeling is mutual, as Rondi implies she doesn't think Miss Mush is cute in "Teeth," though Allison is willing to give her a tangerine, because she's always giving food to the students. Mr. Pepperadder Miss Mush often likes pulling tricks on her assistant Mr. Pepperadder, because he is shorter than her. She occasionally will ask him to reach for an ingredient he can not reach, and often Mr. Pepperadder laughs along, partially because he's a good sport, and partially because Miss Mush is his boss. It seems Miss Mush mostly pulls these tricks in good spirit, and the two are seen eating the leftovers of their cooking together in "Lunch," which there is always plenty of. Louis Louis is one of the few people willing to eat Miss Mush's food on a regular basis in the books. In "Louis," he claims her Tuna Surprise isn't too bad, and in "A Package for Mrs. Jewls," he is excited to try the Mushroom Surprise. By "Mush," it's revealed he would eat the Mushroom Surprise on a regular basis, until Mrs. Jewls stopped her from making any more. In "Teeth," Rondi states that Louis thinks everyone is cute, and finds it outstanding that he even feels that way about Miss Mush. Miss Mush is never seen interacting with Louis too much, but Louis seems to hold appreciation towards her. Mr. Gorf When Miss Mush first meets Mr. Gorf in "Voices," she is excited to meet him, happily greeting him and the students. It is possible she even had a crush on him, as she asks if Mr. Gorf is married, and starts flirting with him, and thinks it's nice when she hears Allison's voice saying Mr. Gorf is going to take them on a field trip. However, upon hearing Kathy's voice telling her to "have a nice day," Miss Mush quickly realizes Mr. Gorf is actually a mean teacher that sucks voices through his nostril, and bakes a pepper pie to stop him. She then takes his nose, and intends to put it in spaghetti sauce. Cartoon Sammy In the cartoon, Miss Mush is best friends with Sammy, who is a dead rat. Miss Mush and Sammy are seen together in numerous episodes, and she appears to appreciate him, as she advertises his exercise DVD in "Channel Kidswatter," she plays cards with him in "Todd Falls in Love," and he's the sole other member in her honors class in "Honors Class." Miss Mush seems to always be willing to give Sammy a helping hand, as she gives him a fancy costume so he can mingle with the students in "Rat in Shining Armor," and in "The Rat Truth," the goes on a voyage to find the Golden Bowl of Mamaland to cure him of his sickness. It is unknown if Sammy thinks anything of Miss Mush, because he is dead. Le Chef In his two appearances, Le Chef is shown to be a rival of Miss Mush, contrasting his brilliant cooking and uptight personality with Miss Mush's disgusting cooking, yet amiable personality. In "French Fried," she quits her job after discovering the students like his cooking better, and when invited back, is horrified by how nice the kitchen looks when he cleans it up. At the end of the episode, she and Le Chef battle in a cooking contest, and while she technically has the worse food, she wins because of her nicer personality. In "Le Race," Le Chef encounters Miss Mush again, and Miss Mush quickly pulls ahead of him in the parkour match, though he ends up sabotaging her with chocolate mousse splattered against the wall. Miss Mush thinks little of Le Chef, bragging that it's easy to climb a building without a donkey on her back, and scoffing when he brags about his chances of winning. The feeling is mutual, as Le Chef believes Miss Mush's three-time thumb wrestling victories can not beat out his four-time parkour victories, and he also criticizes her non-French accent. Students Miss Mush remains amiable with the students of Wayside School in the cartoon, and much like in the books, regularly helps with their problems. In "Miss Fortune," for instance, she prepares bowls of Mushroom Surprise that predict the future of the students when she hears them talking about their future careers, and in "Le Race," she joins the race against Le Chef to save the school. However, when Wayside School competes against students from Mamaland, she still roots for her home country, as seen in "Mascot Madness" and "Mad Hot," and she seems to be upset at Maurecia in particular when she insults her food in "French Fried." Mr. Kidswatter Miss Mush and Mr. Kidswatter do not interact often, though their few interactions are hardly ever shown to be positive. In "Dr. Dana," when Myron suggests that Mr. Kidswatter try marrying Miss Mush, he immediately realizes he has nothing in common with her, and Miss Mush readily accepts the rejection, saying she doesn't want to marry Kidswatter either. In "Joe n' Fro," Miss Mush criticizes Mr. Kidswatter for attacking a gopher that isn't hurting him, and snarks at him when he doesn't seem to realize what a gazebo is. However, in "French Fried," she at least is willing to hand him her online business when she sees no more use for it. Appearances For a list of every chapter and episode Miss Mush is seen in, see here. Trivia *Miss Mush is the only major character introduced in Sideways Stories from Wayside School not to get a chapter to herself at any point in the book. *Miss Mush is not married, as revealed in "Voices," though her name may be a giveaway. *In "Nose," her voice is described as sounding like "two boots sloshing through mud." Gallery See a gallery for Miss Mush here. Category:Characters Category:Adults Category:Teachers Category:Females Category:Introduced in Sideways Stories from Wayside School Category:Alive characters